The Second Coming
I have a friend that I used to work with. Unlike me, he was a very religious person in the best meaning of the word (in my own opinion). His faith was strong, but he wasn’t a preacher or evangelist or pusher. Whenever I had a question or observation about the Christian faith, I’d sit down and talk to him. He was always open and patient and never took offense to the blasphemous questions or arguments I posed to him, and would always answer me honestly, expressing his beliefs as just that, never judging or condemning. He is a good man, who just happens to be quite religious. I wish I still worked with him, so I could ask him about something I started thinking about last night.
OK, let’s say the Second Coming of Christ happens. Dude shows up, tells people he’s the Son of God returned. It’s happened a lot of times before now, I’m sure. Is there a single religious faith that would embrace this person without question, or would he be forced to prove that he is the Son of God through some kind of miracle or something? I can’t imagine anyone accepting anyone making that claim, just as no one has embraced the people who have claimed it up until now. On the flip side, if he proves it through miraculous doings, doesn’t that undermine the entire concept of faith? Would that not make those Christians no different than any non-believers? I actually think that there would be active and open hostility, especially as the proclaimer’s popularity grew. Religious leaders would feel threatened unless he endorsed their own particular strain of faith.
Christians have pointed their fingers at the Jews for not embracing Christ for almost 2000 years and for playing a role in his death. I don’t think that Christians would behave any differently if someone appeared, claiming to be their god made flesh, and declared himself King of the Christians. In fact, I’m fairly certain that this person would be murdered eventually by a very religious person.
Man, organized religion is weird.
Posted on March 12, 2010, in Philosophizin' and tagged Religion, Theories. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Winter in Derenemyn 
I am so encouraged after reading about your former co-worker…the peaceable one…who you could ask questions and he would answer without judgement. I can do that. Mind if I do? Hope not. I found your questions concerning the ‘what if’ of a Messiah who returned to earth. How would He be received…believed..and so forth? Good question. And you are correct, there have been many to date who claimed to be such a one as Christ. But the REAL return of the REAL Christ will be a universal and visible return. His return will impact the entire universe…immediately. He will be so SUPERNATURAL that there will be NO mistaking who He is. The Bible which we Christians believe totally to be the true revealed Word which came from God through human beings. We believe that God actually revealed Himself to chosen men. That He revealed Himself, unmistakenly, to the prophets by speaking to them in an audible voice, by sustaining them physically through miraculous feats…such as sending ravens to feed Elijah who was hungry in the wilderness. Such as sending supernatural food from Heaven, called manna, to the tribes of Israel who were ‘hidden’ by God in a wilderness which no man could penetrate…especially their enemies. Sounds wild. But, hey, this is the God who is beyond everything we can imagine. So according to the Bible…here’s how it’ll go at His return to earth.
COMING WILL BE SEEN ALL ACROSS THE SKY…FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST: Mt 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
HIS RETURN WILL INTERRUPT THE MOST MASSIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE HAULOCAUST AGAINST MAN TO EVER BE PERPETUATED ON THE EARTH (Tribulation under Anti-Christ/Son of Satan who will rule the world just before Christ’s Return to place His eternal Kingdom)
The SUN AND MOON WILL LITERALLY BECOME DARK IN COMPARISON TO THE BRIGHTNESS AND ILLUMINOSITY OF MESSIAH/ Mt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: Mt 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
When He who created all things, who set man between a measured time referred to as Beginning and Ending….returns…His magnitude is so beyond the scope of our little universe that..as He enters the universe…the natural forces which hold the universe in place e.g. gravity, inertia, and the countless other forces…will be superseded by the magnificent Force of the Living God. And, as a result, the stars will begin to fall from their place…and the entire created universe will be significantly impacted by the immense power of His return.
Okay, now..keep in mind that I’m sharing with you my true and heartfelt conviction as to the truth of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of Christ and the Father…come back to us in spirit form only…no body..as Christ had on earth. I’m not attempting to convince you of anything. I respect every man’s free will and his freedom to choose what he believes. But, like your former co-worker, I am totally sold out, convinced, would stake my life of it all being true…but am not in the least threatened by those who do not accept my belief. I have authority over myself…only.
AT THE TIME THE SKY HAS BEEN RIPPED OPEN BY THE RETURNING MESSIAH…AND AS LOUD, LOUD, AUTHORITATIVE SOUNDS OF THE RETURNING KING ARE HEARD…HE SENDS ANGELS DOWN TO ESCORT THE ‘True’ believers (both Jew and Gentile/ the Church)…not the ones who only ‘pretended’ to believe in some superficial way…..up to the clouds to meet Messiah in the clouds: Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
THESE FOLLOWING VERSES REVEAL WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE WICKED WHO CHOSE TO HONOR SATAN RATHER THAN GOD. THEY CANNOT BE TAKEN TO GOD BECAUSE OF UNFORGIVEN SIN SINCE SIN CANNOT DWELL WITH GOD. GOD SAID, ‘Re 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Re 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Re 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Re 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Sorry that the response is so long. But your question is not a simple one. Or a question easily answered with clarity.
As you can see, at the Return to earth of the true Messiah, it will be with a force which bring the universe and all the planets to their end. There will be a ‘new heaven and new earth’ wherein dwelleth righteousness…or only those things which are good, kind, peaceable, caring, considerate, positive, hopeful, living, perpetual…and so forth. I find from my experience on this ‘side’ that Life is a force which cannot be stopped. Once our spirit leaves our body..it will continue on somewhere. I am completely, completely, totally, so deeply convinced that there are no words to express the extent of my conviction and belief as the ‘realness’ of this precious and powerful immense God of all things. I believe the Bible to be true. That creation is, indeed, by intelligent design…with a plan and purpose drawn up in totally…before He ever put the world and man into existence. There is no contradiction, at all, in the Bible. So mind-boggling is the fact that it was written by many men…over generations..and it correctly foretold the future…and correctly tells what we are experiencing today.
So good to have found your site. Again, I was really touched by your description of the former co-worker. I know you have good in you in order to look at a man whom you disagree with an see his integrity….as I’m sure he saw yours.
Feel free to read and delete this response..if you wish. Since your co-worker is no longer available, I will be delighted to represent us ‘believers’ and answer any question or curiosity you might have.
Carolyn / internetelias.wordpress.com
I very much thank you for your thoughtful and thought-provoking response. It is very heart-warming to receive the generous attention you gave my post, which I essentially made as a question spoken to the air and also the expression of missing an old friend. I very much appreciate it, and will remember this and you when I have another question regarding things that I do not understand or just wonder about.